THE Taste star Debbie Halls-Evans has revealed that the heat is turned up to full in tonight’s episode.

Horwich-born Mrs Halls-Evans, who lives in Blackrod, is through to the next episode with just six contestants remaining.

They are battling to become the first UK winner of the Channel 4 cookery show.

Mentors Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre and Anthony Bourdain are also starting to look more tense as the weeks go by — with Nigella saying it is becoming harder and harder to pick the bottom three each week — and risk sending one of their own team home.

Tonight’s episode welcomes chef Fergus Henderson, who specialises in cooking with offal, and the contestants have the theme of ‘nose to tail’.

Last Tuesday saw Mrs Halls-Evans in the bottom three — but an earlier win of immunity from guest chef Simon Rogan kept her safe for another week.

Mrs Halls-Evans said: “It is a rollercoaster for me — but it’s a very exciting.

“At this point I am starting to believe that it is a serious competition as there are only two of us in each team. It didn’t feel like that at first.

“It’s just me and Chloe in Ludo’s team now and we get very competitive.”

Mrs Halls-Evans has had extreme highs and lows throughout the competition — but says being picked as presenting the best spoon by two of her favourite chefs “blows you away”.

She added: “I have cooked all my life but my professional cooking life is quite short, so throughout the competition I was soaking up everything I possibly could from the mentors and the guest chefs.

"Money couldn’t pay for the kind of support and focus that we get from them. When you’re a foodie all you do is talk about food you are told you are good it blows you away.”